Tropical rain forests form a band near the equator that covers 15% to 20% of the landmass of the Earth. The rain forests are the Earth's most complex and diversified forests and are believed to be a critical element of the planet's ecosystem. Much of the rain forest comprises multiple-layer jungle characterized by a canopy of scattered emergent trees that tower above the rest of the jungle. The tops of some species exceed 65 meters (210 feet) in height. Below the canopy, one or two additional layers of trees exist, usually at about 15 meters and 30 meters in heights. The canopy stretches for vast distances, seemingly unbroken when observed from above. However, despite overlapping tree branches, canopy trees rarely interlock or even touch. Instead they are separated from one another by a few feet.
In recent years, large numbers of people have established homesteads in or on the periphery of the rain forest. These homesteads are often primitive in nature due to their remoteness and the substantial costs and difficulty in establishing communications, building roads, and emplacing power lines and conventional telephone services. The surge in population in rain forest areas is a major factor in the rapid destruction of the forests. Hardwoods are cut from vast areas by uncontrolled and illegal logging, and huge tracts of forest are burned by narcotic-terrorists and drug traffickers to make room for the planting coca and other illicit crops. Additionally, the shelter from observation provided by the canopy attracts insurgents, terrorists, guerillas, and other agents of instability who take shelter in heavily forested regions where they can act beyond the reach of law enforcement and government intervention.
The problems faced by those governments entrusted with regulating human actions in the rain forest are surely demanding, but particularly exacerbated by an inability to observe the remote jungle and communicate those observations to authorities. In many nations, resources have poured into manpower-intensive jungle monitoring efforts and jungle-targeted counter-insurgency programs, but vast stretches of jungle remain unmonitored, off limits to national security forces, and local populations continue to be terrorized by insurgents, often funded through the drug trade. Therefore, there is a need for an efficient, cost-effective surveillance system particularly useful in heavily-jungled areas.